Compressed-air water-elevator.



No. 628,3l8. Patented July 4, I899.

. F. HAYES & H. FROST. COMPRESSED AIR WATER ELEVATOR.

(Application filed June 22, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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No. 628,3I8. Patented July 4, I899.

F. HAY ES &. H. L. FROST.

CDMPRESSED AIR WATER ELEVATOR.

(Application fileddune 22, 1898.)

2 Sheets8heet 2.

(No Model.)

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED HAYES, OF BRISTOL, TENNESSEE, AND IIORACEIL; FROST,. OF

BRISTOL, VIRGINIA.

COM PRESS E'D AlR W AT E R E LEVATOR'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,318, dated July 4, 1899.

Application filed June 22,1398. Serial No.684,164. (No model.)

'To all whom it may concern:

Be it known-that we, FRED HAYES, residing at Bristol, in the county of Sullivan and State of Tennessee, andI-IORAOE L. FROST, residing at Bristol, in the county of Washington and State of Virginia, citizens of the United States, haveinvented a' new and useful Compressed-Air Water-Elevator, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in compressed-air water-elevators; and the object that we have in view is to provide asimple and compact structure for automatically lifting, through the agency of compressed air or other aeriforin fluid, a liquid from a well or other place of liquid accumulation to an elevated point.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in which a certain amount of liquid may be allowed to accumulate for subjection to the actionof compressed air,

which serves to positively expel the liquid and lift the same to the desired point, and the admission and cutting off of the compressed'air are dependentsolely upon the ac-, tion of gravity of the accumulated quantity of liquid acting through suitable mechanical, contrivances. i

With these endsin view the invention con sists in the novel combination of elements and in the construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand the invention, we have illustrated a preferred embodi- -n1ent thereof in the accompanying drawings,

forming 'a part of this specification, and in Figure 1 is a sectional elevation through a portion of awell with our water-elevator submerged in the liquid therein. Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation with an end plate removed from the tilt-able tank. Fig. 3 is the vertical sectional elevation through the tank on the plane indicated by the dotted-line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section on the plane through the journals of therocking tank and indicated by the dotted line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Like numerals of reference denote like and ,the base at one side of the tank 5.

corresponding parts in each of the several figures of the drawings.

In our improved water-elevator we employ a rocking tank, which is submerged within the liquid which is to be elevated, and to properly support this tank in place a flat or horizontal base 1' is employed on which the tank 'is pivotally mounted and to which base the air-inlet pipe and the water-eduction pipe are rigidly secured. This base is preferably cast in a single piece with raised bosses or bearings 2 3 for the attachment of the pipes, and said base is also provided at a suitable distance from the bosses with an elevated stop-lug 4, upon which the tiltable tank is adapted to rest when it is loaded or filled with liquid for the purpose of arresting the downward movement of the loaded tank.

5 designates the rocking tank, which is arranged above the base 1, and this tank is preferably ofthe rectangular form shown by the drawings, although the shape is not essential. The tank in practice willbe cast in asingle piece of metal with an open end and with transverse bearings 6, which are formed in the opposing side walls of said tank, so as to lie in'line with each other, and these transverse bearings 6 are situated on the side walls of the tank near the permanently-closed end thereof. To the'bearings 6 of the side walls are secured the bushings 7 and 8, which form tight joints between the trunnions of the airinduction pipe and the water-eduction'pipe for the tank to rock or tilt upon, and thus leakage of the fluid, either air or water, is prevented at the pivotal connection. of the tank with said pipes.

9 designates the vertical air-inlet pipe, which is provided near its lower extremity witha TV-coupling l0,and tothisicoupling is rigidly secured the foot l1,which is in turn secured to the boss or bearing 2 of'the base 1, thereby rigidly attaching the air-pipe to I This airinlet pipe is provided witha horizontal branch 12, which passes through the bushing 7 and one of the bearings 6 ofthewtank,rand the outer end of this horizontal branch protrudes beyond the tank and its bushing 7 and is rigidly fastened to the coupling 10, so as to com- 100' thereof nearly to the top of said tank, so as to discharge the air from the pipe 9 and its branch 12 to the interior of the tank above the level of the accumulated liquid therein, whereby the expansive energy and pressure of the compressed air will under certain conditions of adjustment of the tank operate to expel the liquid from said tank to the eduction-pipe.

The eduction-pipe 14 is arranged on the opposite side of the tank from the air-inlet pipe, and at its lower end said pipe 14 is provided with a T-coupling 15, having a foot 16 secured to the bearing or boss 3 on the plate 1, thus firmly securing the eduction-pipe to the base. To the coupling 15 is rigidly secured a horizontal branch 17, which passes through the bushing 8 and the bearing 6 of the tank, and this branch 17 establishes communication between the chamber of the tank and the eduction-pipe for the egress of liquid from the tank to the pipe 14 when the air is admitted from the pipe 9 to the tank for expelling the liquid therefrom.

The pipes 0 and 14 have their horizontal branches 12 and 17 fitted to the bushings and bearings of the tank, so as to form journals, on which the tank is free to rock or tilt, and these tubular journals 12 and 17 establish communication between the tank and the two pipes, so as to permit the tank to have the desired oscillating or rocking motion without interrupting the communication between the working elements.

The liquid-eduction pipe 14 is provided with a check-valve 18 of any suitable construction and which may be placed in said pipe at any proper point-as, for example, near the lower end of the pipe 14 or the coupling 15 thereof. This check-valve opens upwardly when the liquid is expelled through the agency of the compressed air from the tank into the pipe 14, and said check-valve serves to sustain the column of water above it to overcome any tendency or backflow from the pipe into the tank.

The air necessary for the expulsion of the liquid which accumulates in the tank is admitted automatically and at regular intervals through the agency of an air-controlling valve 19, which is operatively connected with the rocking tank, and this air-inlet valve is closed positively during the interval when the water accumulates in the tank; but on the descent of the tank under the weight of the accumulated liquid therein the valve is opened to admit the air from the pipe 9 and the branches 12 13 thereof above the level of the liquid in the tank. This automatic controlling-valve 19 is preferably embodied in the form of a turning plug-valve, the plug 20 of which is provided with an axial stem or spindle 21, that extends horizontally from the pipe 9. This valve stem or spindle-projects a suitable distance over the rocking tank, and its free end is formed or provided with a depending lever-arm '22. The valve-plu g is operatively connected with the tank by a link 23, one end of which is pivoted, as at 24, to the extremity of the lever-arm 22, and the other end of said link is loosely connected, as at 25, to the upper part of the rocking tank at the free end thereof. The free rear end of this rocking tank is open, and it is designed to be closed by an end plate 26, which is removably secured to the tank for the purpose of obtaining access to the interior thereof. The end plate and the walls of the tank are provided with coincident lugs or flanges 27, through which are passed the securing-bolts 28, that serve to unite the tank and its end plate firmly together, and, if desired, a gasket or packing may be provided between the abutting faces of the tank and its end plate to secure a tight joint between said parts.

The water-inlet port 29 is formed in the removable end plate 26 of the tank, and this inlet-port is of large diameter to permit of the free ingress of water to the tank. The inlet-port is designed to be closed by a flapvalve 30, which is hinged at its upper edge, as at 31, to the end plate of the tank, and this flap-valve consists of a series of plates or disks having a gasket and a bolt for drawing all the parts of the flap-valve firmly together. The flap-valve closes outwardly against the end plate of the tank, and it is designed to fill the inlet-port 29 and to overlap the edge around said port, thus making a tight joint between the tank and the valve.

To exclude dirt and foreign matter from entering the tank and interfering with the action of the flap-valve and the egress of water through the eduction-pipe, we provide a strainer 33, which is arranged to cover the end plate 26 of said tank. This strainer may consist of a piece of perforated sheet metal or other foraminous material, and the edges of this strainer are applied against the face-plate and secured firmly thereto by screws or bolts as, for example, by the bolts 28which attach the removable end plate to the tank.

The pipes 9 and 14 are braced by the transverse strut 34, arranged above the tiltable tank and the automatic air-valve, and the ends of this brace are united to the pipes by the sleeves or couplings 35. The brace is shown as consisting of two members joined together by the union 36, which contains a blind packing 37; but the pipes 9 and 14 do not communicate one with the other through the cross-brace34.

The operation may be described as follows: The buoyancy of the tiltable tank when it is filled with air after the expulsion of water therefrom causes the tank to rise and assume the inclined position shown by full lines in Fig. 3, and the link 23 operates the lever-arm tank is submerged opens the flap-valve 30 and accumulates in the tank 5 until a sufficient quantity is contained within the tank to overcome its buoyancy and cause the tank to descend by the gravity of accumulated liquid therein. The tank turns on its connections with the tubular journals formed by the branches 12 and 17 of the pipes '9 and 14, and the tank descends or drops until it rests upon the elevated lug 4, which limits the descent of the tank. The downward movement of the pivoted tank draws on the link 23, which in turn operates the lever-arm 22 to rock the spindle 21 and turn the plug-valve to a position for the air to pass through the pipe 9, its branches 12 and 13, and deliver the air to the interior of the tank above the level of the liquid therein. The pressure of the compressed air upon the liquid within the tank expels the liquid through the coupling and the pipe 14, and the air-pressure also closes the valve tightly against the end plate 26 of the tiltable tank. of the liquid from the tank removes the media by which the tank is held in its depressed position, and the buoyancy of the tank again causes it to rise to its inclined position, thereby actuating the lever 23 to close the valve 19 and cut oif the further ingress of air. As the water is forced from the tank by agency of the compressed air and the air-inlet valve is closed by the ascent of the tank, due to the buoyancy imparted thereto by the accumulation of air therein, the pressure in the tank is reduced by air escaping through the eduction-pipe 14 until the air contained in said tank is reduced to the pressure below that of the surrounding water, whereupon the Water acts against the flap-valve 30 to open the inlet-port and insure the accumulation of water in the tank in sufficient volume to depress said tank by the weight or gravity of the accumulated article therein. It will thus be seen that the operation of the elevator is wholly automatic and that the descent of the tank is eifected by gravity of the liquid which accumulates therein and that the admission of air for the expulsion of the liquid from the tank is controlled by the movement of the tank itself.

Of course the pipes 9 and 14 extend vertically through the well or other place in which the system is installed, and the pipe 9 is operatively connected with a compressor or other source of supply for delivering'the compressed air under the necessary pressure to the pipe.

While we have described the pipe 9 as an air-inlet pipe, we wouldhave it understood thatwe do not strictly confine ourselves to The expulsion the employment of air as the media for the expulsionof the liquid from the tank.

Slight changes may be made in the form of some of the parts, while their essential features are retained and the spirit of the invention embodied. Hence We do not desire to be limited to the precise form of all the parts as shown, reserving the right to vary theree from.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim is- 1. In a compressed-air Water-elevator, the air-pressure pipe and the liquid-eduction pipe having the coincident non-revoluble tubular journals, and a rocking tank mounted eccentrically and loosely'on said journals to turn freely thereon, the journal of the eductionpipe communicating directly with the chamber of said tank, combined with a liquid-induction valve at the free or unconfined end of said tank, a branch air pipe contained within the tank to extend above the liquidlevel therein ,and an air-pressure valve mounted on the air-pressure pipe and connected with said tank to be opened and closed thereby as the tank is rocked on the journals, substantially as described.

2. In a compressed-air Water-elevator, the combination of the stationary air-pressure pipe and the water-eduction pipe provided with the non-revoluble tubular journals arranged coincidently to each other, the rocking tank mounted eccentrically and loosely on said non-revoluble journals to turn freely thereon and communicating directly with the journal of the eduction-pipe, a branch airpipe connected with the journal of the airpressure pipe and extendin'g'into the tank above the level of liquid therein, an air-controlling valve mounted in the air-pressure pipeand havinga projecting stem, and a link connecting the tank with the air-valve to open and close the latter by the tilting playof the tank, substantially as described.

3..In a compressed-air water-elevator, a

single tiltable tank provided in its side walls with the coincident bearings and bushings and having the end wall, at its unconfined end, provided with a central inlet-port, a screen covering said port and attached tosaid plate, and an induction flap-valve hung within said tank to close the inlet-port therein, combined with the stationary air-pressure and eduction pipes having the tubular journals which pass through the bushings and ICO bearings to, serve as pivots for the rocking tank, and an air-pressure valve mounted on the air-pressure pipe and linked to the tiltable tank, substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto aflixed our signatures in thepresence of two witnesses.

FRED HAYES.

HORACE L. FROST.

WVitnesses:

P. M. CODY, J. W. READ. 

